Izvještaji za Medije

Transparency International chapter in Bosnia and Herzegovina forced to suspend operations due to safety concerns

Izvještaji za Medije ● 09 Jula 2009

“It is one of the few times in Transparency International’s history that a national chapter has been intimidated to the point of having to suspend operations. We are deeply concerned and saddened, and stand in solidarity with our colleagues in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Cobus de Swardt, Managing Director, Transparency International.

Following a meeting with the European Union Police Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Board of Directors of TI BiH, in an emergency meeting, decided to temporarily suspend the chapter’s operations and evacuate the staff from the office. The EUPM pledged to monitor developments, in the absence of any meaningful local police protection.

The ongoing public accusations against the only independent anti-corruption watchdog in the country and the leading NGO combating corruption provides an accurate landscape of Bosnia and Herzegovina today: a very dangerous place for voices of criticism calling for accountability and transparency in the work of the ruling powers. Despite progress made, it is still practically impossible for anti-corruption watchdogs to operate in the country.

TI hopes that the rule of law will prevail and that these accusations will be handled by an independent judiciary in the Republika Srpska in full accordance with principles of due process and impartiality; and we believe firmly that such intimidations, with their implicit threat of legal action, are unacceptable in any country or entity based on democracy and the rule of law.

On Wednesday 09 July, the Principal Deputy High Representative provided evidence to the BiH Chief Prosecutor suggesting that the Republika Srpska executive establishment was planning accusations against TI BiH late in 2007. It took some months until the action was put in motion and today, the staff of TI BiH lives in an extremely uncertain environment.

• The Center for Investigative Reporting in Sarajevo (CIN) expresses its support for TI BiH
• Transparency Deutschland fordert Sicherheitsgarantien für die bosnische Schwesterorganisation
• Human Rights Watch speaks out on TI BiH: Protect Civil Society From Harassment
• Office of the High Representative press release: Gregorian met with acting BiH Chief Prosecutor Milorad Barasin
• The Swedish Helsinki Committee supports TI BiH: read the statement
• Global Integrity Commons supports TI BiH: read the statement

See TI’s previous statement here

Transparency International Bosne i Hercegovine (TI BiH) iz sigurnosnih razloga obustavlja sve redovne aktivnosti

Izvještaji za Medije ● 09 Jula 2009

“U dosadašnjem radu Transparency International samo se jednom desilo da je stopiran rad pojedinog TI ogranka. Duboko izražavamo zabrinutost i žaljenje zbog ovog događaja, te pružamo svu podrušku svojim kolegama u BiH”, izjavio je Cobus de Swardt, generalni direktor Transparency International.

Nakon sastanka sa Evropskim komesarom u BiH, Odbor direktora TI BiH je odlučio da odmah obustavi sve aktivnosti TI BiH te evakuiše radnike iz prostorija. EUPM se obavezao da će pratiti dalji razvoj događaja te da će pružiti svu potrebnu pomoć.

Optužbe na račun jedine nezavisne organizacije koja ima za cilj sprečavanje korupcije smatraju se veoma opasne, tako da govoriti o odgovornosti i transparentnosti u ovakvim uslovima predstavlja veliki rizik. Uprkos napretku BiH, praktično je još uvijek nemoguće da ova organizacija radi svoj posao.

TI vjeruje da će vladavina zakona pobijediti  i da će sve optužbe biti predane Republičkom tužilaštvu te kao takve biti zasnovane na osnovnim demokratskim vrijednostima.

TI BiH zbog neobjašnjive i beskrupulozne kampanje u medijima pod kontrolom vladajućeg režima u Republici Srpskoj, usmjerene na diskreditovanje ove organizacije, TI BiH insistira da nezavisna istraga o cijelom slučaju treba dati institucionalni odgovor, te da sva lica za koja postoji osnovana sumnja da su počinila krivična djela trebaju odgovarati u skladu sa zakonom bez obzira na funkciju koju obavljaju ili su

obavljali.

Prvi zamjenik Visokog predstavnika u BiH je predao Glavnom tužiocu dokaz o tome kako su planirani napadi na TI BiH krajem 2007. godine. Ali za realizaciju ove akcije bili su potrebni mjeseci, ali nakon ovog incidenta, osoblje TI BiH-a se osjeća izuzetno ugroženo i nesigurno u ovakvom okruženju.

U prilogu možete pročitati tekstove podrške radu TI BiH:

• Centar za istraživačko novinarstvo (CIN) Sarajevo, pismo podrške support for TI BiH
• Human Rights Watch speaks out on TI BiH: Protect Civil Society From Harassment

• Transparency Deutschland fordert Sicherheitsgarantien für die bosnische Schwesterorganisation

TI BiH podnio prijavu protiv premijera Dodika radi utvrdivanja sukoba interesa

Izvještaji za Medije ● 29 Juna 2009

TI BiH filed a request for establishing the conflict of interest in the case of Prime Minister Dodik

Izvještaji za Medije ● 29 Juna 2009

The Law on conflict of interests in government al institutions of Republika Srpska clearly proscribes that elected representatives are not allowed to use their position for the benefit of persons related to them, and that they must not privilege their relatives. In the case of Mr. Dodik, who is the president of the Credit Board that approved a loan to the company whose owner or co-owner is his son, it is clear that this is a case of the violation of the law on conflict of interests. Article 2 of the Law on conflict of interests in government al institutions of Republika Srpska states: “The conflict of interests exists in situations where an elected representative, a bearer of executive function, or an advisor has a private interest of such nature that it can influence their unbiased an objective exertion of duty”.

Prime Minister Dodik, in a twofold position as the head of the Bank’s assembly and the president of the credit board, although he was not present at the meeting when the loan was approved, was obligated to explain the reasons of the existence of possible conflict of interests, to the members of the Credit Board, which he had not done. Additionally, having in mind the fact that other members of the Credit Board are in a subordinate position in relation to Mr. Dodik, since they are members of the party that he presides, and ministers in the government of which he is a prime minister, it is clear that Mr. Dodik could have influence the Credit Board decision about the loan approval for his son, even if he was not present at the moment when the decision was made.

TI BiH expects that commission for establishing the conflict of interests in governmental institutions of RS will act according to the Law and make an adequate decision on this issue.

TI BiH podnio prijavu protiv premijera Dodika radi utvrđivanja sukoba interesa

Izvještaji za Medije ● 29 Juna 2009

Transparency International Bosne i Hercegovine (TI BiH) podnio je prijavu Republičkoj komisiji za utvrđivanje sukoba interesa u organima vlasti Republike Srpske protiv Milorada Dodika, predsjednika Vlade Republike Srpske, koji je, pored toga što je nosilac dužnosti premijera RS, ujedno i Predsjednik Kreditnog odbora skupštine akcionara Investiciono-razvojne banke Republike Srpske, koja je odobrila kredit u iznosu od 3 miliona KM preduzeću „Fruit Eco“, čiji je vlasnik ili suvlasnik sin gospodina Dodika. Takođe, u skladu sa Zakonom o investiciono-razvojnoj banci RS, Vlada RS ima funkciju skupštine banke, a na čelu Vlade se, kao što je poznato, nalazi gospodin Dodik.

Član 2. Zakona o sprečavanju sukoba interesa u organima vlasti republike Srpske propisuje: „Sukob interesa postoji u situacijama u kojim izabrani predstavnik, nosilac izvršne funkcije ili savjetnik ima privatni interes koji je takav da može uticati, ili izgleda da može uticati, na nepristrasno i objektivno vršenje njegove dužnosti“. Ovaj zakon, takođe, jasno propisuje da izabrani predstavnici ne smiju koristiti javnu funkciju za dobit lica koja su sa njima povezana, te da ne smiju privilegovati lica koja su sa njima u srodstvu. U slučaju gospodina Dodika, koji je predsjednik Kreditnog odbora koji je odobrio kredit preduzeću čiji je vlasnik ili suvlasnik njegov sin, jasno je da se radi o kršenju zakona o sprečavanju sukoba interesa.

Premijer Dodik u dvostrukoj ulozi, kao prvi čovjek skupštine banke i kao predsjetnik kreditnog odbora banke, iako nije bio prisutan na sjednici kada je kredit odobren, prema Zakonu je bio obavezan članovima Kreditnog odbora objasniti razloge postojanja mogućeg sukoba interesa, što on nije učinio. Takođe, kada se uzme u obzir činjenica da su ostali članovi Kreditnog odbora u potčinjenom položaju u odnosu na gospodina Dodika, jer su članovi stranke na čijem je on čelu, te ministri u Vladi kojom on predsjedava, jasno je da je gospodin Dodik mogao uitcati na odluku Kreditnog odbora o dodjeli kredita za njegovog sina, bez obzira što nije bio prisutan u trenutku kada je odluka donesena.

TI BiH očekuje da će komisija za utvrđivanje sukoba interesa u organima vlasti Republike Srpske postupiti u skladu sa zakonom i donijeti odgovarajuću odluku u ovom slučaju.

KARACHI, 26. MAJ 2010. – Umjetnošću protiv korupcije

Izvještaji za Medije ● 26 Juna 2009

Kolekcija pobjedničkih slika daje ciničan pristup korupciji. Njihova vizija korupcije ide od forme snažnih životinja poput geparda koji predstavljaju snagu, pa sve do vatre koja gori i do likova poput vještica koje predstavljaju veliko zlo. Slike prikazuju moćne sile koje utiču na škole, policiju, sudije i porodice s porukom da “danas ljudi poštuju više novac nego nacionalni interes”. 

Korupcija u društvu ostavlja mnogu djecu bespomoćnu i depresivnu u ranoj dobi, pa se Transparency International Pakistan oglasio, te objasnio ovu njihovu akciju. “Studenti postaju veoma osjetljivi i svjesni situacije jer poslije završenog studija ne mogu pronaći posao. Situacija postaje gora, kada vide da pojedine kolege dobiju posao posredstvom kontakata ili kupovinom radnog mjesta. Tako da oni svi imaju zajednički zaključak da se bez korupcije ne može više ništa uraditi…te da nema izlaza iz ovog haosa.” 

Transparency International Pakistan ima za cilj da osnaži i ohrabri mlade ljude da daju svoj doprinos na što kreativniji i produktivniji način protiv korupcije. Više o mladim ljudima i njihovoj borbi, a o ovom projektu možete pronaći više informacija na ovom linku NPR’s Grand Trunk Road project.   

Preventing Corruption in Sport

Izvještaji za Medije ● 16 Juna 2009

For the good of the game, this must be so. Unfortunately, the spate of recent match-fixing scandals has cast doubt on this, even at the World Cup, and could threaten the long-term appeal of the sport. Wolfgang Feldner, the head of strategy at FIFA, world football’s governing body, suggested that even its Early Warning System, which monitors suspicious betting patterns, could not wipe out match-fixing altogether. In May 2010, Michel Platini, governing president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), called for an international police task force to fight corruption in sports, especially in football, in an interview.

But are data screening of betting patterns and policing enough? Investigations and monitoring may catch a few villains, but it will not win the war on corruption in football or any sport. The best defense for the long-term has to be prevention. That applies not only to match-fixing, but the potential for corruption in all areas, from stadium construction and bidding for large competitions like the World Cup, to running a club using good governance principles.

Corruption – especially match-fixing – is a two-person crime. It needs a bribe payer and a bribe taker. While the payers in match-fixing usually come from outside the sport – traditional organised crime — the bribe takers are part of the clubs and associations. Calling for better policing only addresses one side of the equation; the sports authorities, around the world, must take on the responsibility to tackle corruption risks within their own organisations at regional, national and local levels.

This requires proper risk management and prevention programmes to raise awareness throughout the football family, from the more vulnerable players and referees to club administrators. Educational programmes, whistle blower hotlines and helpdesks as well as internal controls and standardised codes of ethics are essential for real improvement.

Before the kick-off in South Africa, FIFA for the first time warned of the potential of match-fixing. But awareness-raising cannot be a one-day issue. All sports’ governing bodies, including FIFA, UEFA and outside of football, the International Olympic Committee, for example, must take on the responsibility to introduce anti-corruption measures at all levels within their member organisations. They must modernize their structures in order to achieve transparency and integrity, and demonstrate zero-tolerance against all kinds of corruption.

That, in the long run, has to be the game-winning goal.

In 2006 TI Germany established a working group on sport and corruption issues to raise awareness and bring the issue to the international level. In March 2011, TI will take part in a conference organised by FIFA’s Early Warning System and the Swiss Sport Forum. TI has published a working paper and several articles including:

Blowing the whistle on match-fixing
Sustainability reporting in major sporting events
Red Card: Time to expel corruption from the game

TI BiH condemns the attacks on TI Romania

Izvještaji za Medije ● 10 Juna 2009

The recent media report indicating that Victor Alistar delayed income declarations to hide illicit gains is an obvious attempt to stop the TI Romania criticism regarding the political abuses committed around the adoption of new legal codes and the financial interests lying behind these.

The role of TI Romania and the civil society in general is to advocate for change, in this case to produce expert research on the causes and effects of corruption, and to serve as a partner for constructive discussions and expert debates with governments and the private sector. However, the work of TI, this time in Romania, has found itself again under the attack and intimidation through orchestrated defamation campaigns.

Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina had been in a similar situation, when it was attacked by the government through the media, and therefore wants to show and offer its full support to TI Romania in dealing with the attacks and continuing its activities under this pressure.

TI BiH appeals to the European Commission and the Romanian government to take an active role in stopping and preventing these attempts of undermining the personal integrity of a civil society advocate and in that process, the broader fight against corruption. The civil society must be guaranteed its freedom and space to participate in the public debate and must not be restricted, especially in the fight against corruption.

Yours sincerely,

Emir Đikić
Chair of the Board of Directors
Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina

Poruka TI BiH-a Evropskoj komisiji: Stanje korupcije u BiH dramatično

Izvještaji za Medije ● 08 Juna 2009

TI BiH’s message to the European Commission: The state of corruption in BiH is dramatic

Izvještaji za Medije ● 08 Juna 2009

Representatives of Transparency International (TI) and European Commission met in Brussels on the regular annual consultations that are organized for the purpose of preparing the European Commission’s Progress Report that is published every year.

During the consultations it was discussed about the progress that Bosnia and Herzegovina achieved in the past year in anti-corruption field, and all the findings so far suggest that the level of progress in this field is insignificant. Transparency international Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH), by monitoring the work of BiH institutions in implementing the anti-corruption reforms, has come to results that show that BiH has not undertaken any concrete anti-corruption activities, which was also proved by this year’s Corruption Perceptions Index by which BiH deteriorated and became the lowest ranking country in the region.

Analyses show that the greatest problems BiH has to deal with on the way to the progress towards European Union are political corruption, public officials being closely connected to the organized crime, as well as illegal privatization processes and non-transparent work of public companies. Additionally, incompatibility of laws regulating conflict of interests, week implementation of freedom of access to information laws, and the absence of independent anti-corruption agency, present additional obstacles to  Bosnia and Herzegovina’s progress in implementing significant anti-corruption reforms.

TI’s opinion is that BiH needs a clear anti-corruption strategy that should be adopted by Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, with participation of civil society organizations, whose implementation would be consistent and transparent, in order to achieve satisfactory level of its quality and sustainability within the overall process of anti-corruption reforms, which is proscribed by the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

Neučinkovitost vlasti i politička korupcija ponovo najizraženiji

Izvještaji za Medije ● 03 Juna 2009

Neučinkovitost vlasti i politička korupcija ponovo najizraženiji

Izvještaji za Medije ● 03 Juna 2009

Transparency International objavio je novi Globalni barometar korupcije (GCB) za 2009. g. koji istražuje kako korupcija utiče na obične ljude i pruža indikacije o oblicima i opsegu korupcije sa stanovišta građana širom svijeta. Barometar za 2009. godinu predstavlja rezultate istraživanja stavova javnosti o korupciji, kao i iskustva građana u susretu sa mitom. Globalni barometar korupcije ove godine procjenjuje koliko je, prema stavovima građana, korupcija prisutna i ključnim insitucijama i javnim službama, mjeri stavove građana o naporima vlasti da se bori protiv korupcije, a ove godine po prvi put uključuje i pitanje koliko je prisutan fenomen „zarobljene države“. Globalni baromatar korupcije za 2009. g. predstavlja stavove 73.132 ispitanika u ukupno 69 zemalja, uključujući i Bosnu i Hercegovinu u grupi zemalja zapadnog Balkana.

Kao i prethodnih godina, korupcija je prema stavovima građana (68% ispitanika) najprisutnija u političkim partijama, što važi i za Bosnu i Hercegovinu, a kada je u pitanju regija zapadnog Balkana, kao najkorumpiranija istaknuta je državna služba.

Ove godine, istraživanje se bavilo i pitanjem prakse privatnog sektora da korištenjem mita utiče na donošenje odluka i propisa unutar države, što se često naziva fenomenom „zarobljene države“. U zemljama zapadnog Balkana čak oko 60% ispitanika smatra da je ova praksa uobičajena, što potvrđuje ostale nalaze Transparency International-a koja ističu ovaj fenomen kao jedan od najvećih problema u Bosni i Hercegovini. Kada je u pitanju učinkovitost vlasti i njihovih aktivnosti u borbi protiv korupcije, građani su ponovo iskazali nezadovoljstvo, a u Bosni i Hercegovini je u odnosu na 2007.

g. broj onih koji smatraju da vlasti dovoljno čine u borbi protiv korupcije opao čak za oko 10%. Ovakvi rezultati odgovaraju istraživanjima percepcije korupcije koje sprovodi Transparency International Bosne i Hercegovine (TI BiH), a koji iz godine u godinu pokazuju sve veće nezadovoljstvo građana u vezi sa naporima institucija da se bore protiv korupcije kao jedne od najštetnijih pojava po društvo. 
Ovogodišnji Barometar je ukazao i na relativno veliku spremnost građana da daju mito, a rezultati pokazuju da su građani najviše voljni dati mito policiji, te da je skoro četvrtina ispitanika koja je u posljednjih godinu dana imala susret s policijom platila mito. U isto vrijeme, jako je mala spremnost građana da prijave davanja mita, a kada je zapadni Balkan u pitanju, razlog za ovo su uglavnom strah od mogućih posljedica.

Ovo istraživanje još je jedan od pokazatelja nadležnim institucijama i vlastima u BiH da moraju pokazati više volje i odgovornosti u borbi protiv korupcije, te da je krajnje vrijeme da se preduzmu energičnije i oštrije mjere kako bi se ova pojava iskorijenila, naročito kako bi se izbjegle ponovne afere vezane za korupciju u privatizaciji i javnim nabavkama kojima su građani BiH u posljednjih nekoliko godina često bili svjedoci.

Global_Corruption_Barometer.pdf

Government inefficiency and political corruption most distinctive

Izvještaji za Medije ● 03 Juna 2009

Transparency International published a new Global Corruption Barometer
(GCB) 2009 that looks into how corruption affects the regular people and offers indications of the forms and the
scope of corruption from the point of view of citizens worldwide. Barometer for 2009 presents results of public
opinion research on corruption and citizens’ experiences with bribe. This year’s GCB assesses how much,
according to citizens, the corruption is present in key institutions and public services, measures citizens’ attitudes
on governments’ efforts in the fight against corruption, and for the first time this year it includes the issue of the
presence of “state capture” phenomenon. GCB 2009 represents attitudes of 73,132 citizens in the overall of 69
countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina in the group of countries of Western Balkans.

As in the previous years, corruption is, according to citizens’ views, the most present in political parties, which is
also the case for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and civil service is emphasised as the most corrupt for the region of
Western Balkans countries.

This year’s research also dealt with the issue of the private sector practice to use bribe in order to influence
decision making and regulations in the country, which is often called as “state capture’ phenomenon. In Western
Balkans countries around 60% of people questioned think that this is a common practice, which is confirmed by
other Transparency International analyses that point out to this problem as one of the greatest problems in Bosnia
and Herzegovina. When it comes to government efficiency and its anti-corruption activities, citizens expressed their
discontent again, and in Bosnia and Herzegovina the number of people who think that government authorities do
enough in the fight against corruption decreased 10% in comparison to 2007. These results match the corruption
perceptions survey carried out by Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina that year after year shows
increasing dissatisfaction of citizens regarding the efforts of institutions to fight corruption as one of the most
damaging occurrences in a society. This year’s Barometer pointed out to relatively high readiness of citizens to give
bribe, and the results show that citizens are most willing to bribe police and that almost a quarter of those
questioned who had encounters with police in the past year paid a bribe. At the same time, the willingness to report
bribery is very little, and the reason for this, when it comes to Western Balkans, is a fear of possible repercussions.

This research is another indicator to authorized institutions and authorities in BiH that they must show more
willingness and accountability in the fight against corruption, and that it is a high time for more aggressive and
fearse measures to be undertaken in order to eradicate corruption, especially in order to avoid new corruption
affairs in the area of privatization and public procurement of which BiH citizens have been witnesses in the previous
couple of years.

Panel diskusija – „Uloga civilnog društva u antikorupcionim reformama“

Izvještaji za Medije ● 27 Maja 2009

Panel diskusija – „Uloga civilnog društva u antikorupcionim reformama“

Najave ● 27 Maja 2009

Transparency International Bosne i Hercegovine (TI BiH) organizuje panel diskusiju pod nazivom „Uloga civilnog društva u antikorupcionim reformama“, povodom posjete gospođe Huguette Labelle, predjsedavajuće međunarodnog Odbora direktora Transparency International-a.

Panel diskusija će biti prilika za predsatvnike institucija vlasti, civilnog društva i međunarodne zajednice da analiziraju stanje korupcije u BiH i u svijetu, te diskutuju o načinima borbe protiv ove štetne pojave kroz međusektorsku saradnju i antikorupcione reforme i inicijative. Ovo je takođe prilika da se iz različitih uglova sagleda uloga organizacija civilnog društva u antikorupcionim reformama, prije svega Transparency International-a kao organizacije čija je osnovna svrha borba protiv korupcije,  imajući u vidu specifičan kontekst bosansko-hercegovačkog društva.

Predstavnici institucija vlasti i nevladinog sektora imaće mogućnost da identifikuju prepreke i probleme sa kojima se suočavaju u brobi protiv korupcije, te izgradnji i poboljšanju sistema nacionalnog integriteta.

Panel diskusija će se održati 28. maja, u Casino Sali hotela Holiday Inn u Sarajevu, sa početkom u 12.00 časova i biće otvorena za predstavnike medija.

Posjeta predsjedavajuće međunarodnog Odbora direktora TI Bosni i Hercegovini

Izvještaji za Medije ● 25 Maja 2009