Uzbek, Turkmen States Still Among World's Most Corrupt
Uzbek, Turkmen States Still Among World's Most Corrupt
NBCentralAsia observers say they agree with a new ranking that lists Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan among the world’s most corrupt states.
On September 24, the corruption watchdog Transparency International published its annual rating of 180 countries, in which Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are in 166th place along with Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia and Zimbabwe. A press release said the corruption perceptions index underlines the “fatal link” between poverty, the failure of state institutions, and bribery.
“"Stemming corruption requires strong oversight through parliaments, law enforcement, independent media and a vibrant civil society," said Huguette Labelle, director of Transparency International.
Commentators interviewed by NBCentralAsia said Transparency International’s rating is an accurate reflection of the extent of corruption in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Last year the two countries received similarly low ratings – Uzbekistan in 175th and Turkmenistan in 162nd place.
NBCentralAsia experts say the neither country has demonstrated significant changes to state governance, neither has independent media, and those non-government organisations that exist are tightly controlled by the authorities.
Furthermore, NBCentralAsia observers note an alarming tendency for corruption to spread in the lower echelons of society.
“It used to be that only high-ranking officials took bribes, but now every common-or-garden civil servant demands money in return for issuing documents and certificates and performing various services,” said an observer from the Fergana valley in eastern Uzbekistan.
A commentator in the Uzbek capital Tashkent agreed with this assessment, saying there was an observable increase in bribe-taking by revenue, customs, licensing, municipal and social services agencies.
“There are unwritten rates in Uzbekistan for getting a post that carries responsibility,” he said. “Officials from [the above] inspection agencies pay off their superiors, using money they have extorted illegally from ordinary citizens.”
The situation is similar in Turkmenistan, where an observer in the capital Ashgabat said that because unemployment rates are high, every job has a price-tag. Even street-sweepers and security guards pay bribes via middlemen to get shifted to a job in a better area.
“Fifteen years ago, no one wanted to work as a kindergarten carer, but now these jobs aren’t available unless you pay a bribe of 50 to 100 [US] dollars,” he said. “A technician’s job at the state television company costs 300 to 500 dollars.”
Analytics say there will be no improvement in Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan until substantive reforms are introduced and change the whole of society. There are few signs that this will happen any time soon.
“Authoritarian rule [in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan] rests on a bureaucratic system of governance and on total state control over all areas of life and activity. For the moment, they can make bold declarations without changing the system of corruption,” said the commentator in Tashkent.
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service is resuming, covering only Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan for the moment.)
On September 24, the corruption watchdog Transparency International published its annual rating of 180 countries, in which Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are in 166th place along with Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia and Zimbabwe. A press release said the corruption perceptions index underlines the “fatal link” between poverty, the failure of state institutions, and bribery.
“"Stemming corruption requires strong oversight through parliaments, law enforcement, independent media and a vibrant civil society," said Huguette Labelle, director of Transparency International.
Commentators interviewed by NBCentralAsia said Transparency International’s rating is an accurate reflection of the extent of corruption in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Last year the two countries received similarly low ratings – Uzbekistan in 175th and Turkmenistan in 162nd place.
NBCentralAsia experts say the neither country has demonstrated significant changes to state governance, neither has independent media, and those non-government organisations that exist are tightly controlled by the authorities.
Furthermore, NBCentralAsia observers note an alarming tendency for corruption to spread in the lower echelons of society.
“It used to be that only high-ranking officials took bribes, but now every common-or-garden civil servant demands money in return for issuing documents and certificates and performing various services,” said an observer from the Fergana valley in eastern Uzbekistan.
A commentator in the Uzbek capital Tashkent agreed with this assessment, saying there was an observable increase in bribe-taking by revenue, customs, licensing, municipal and social services agencies.
“There are unwritten rates in Uzbekistan for getting a post that carries responsibility,” he said. “Officials from [the above] inspection agencies pay off their superiors, using money they have extorted illegally from ordinary citizens.”
The situation is similar in Turkmenistan, where an observer in the capital Ashgabat said that because unemployment rates are high, every job has a price-tag. Even street-sweepers and security guards pay bribes via middlemen to get shifted to a job in a better area.
“Fifteen years ago, no one wanted to work as a kindergarten carer, but now these jobs aren’t available unless you pay a bribe of 50 to 100 [US] dollars,” he said. “A technician’s job at the state television company costs 300 to 500 dollars.”
Analytics say there will be no improvement in Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan until substantive reforms are introduced and change the whole of society. There are few signs that this will happen any time soon.
“Authoritarian rule [in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan] rests on a bureaucratic system of governance and on total state control over all areas of life and activity. For the moment, they can make bold declarations without changing the system of corruption,” said the commentator in Tashkent.
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service is resuming, covering only Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan for the moment.)
